Posted on 02/08/2016 6:28:43 PM PST by SJackson
Asked about diversity in Hollywood last week, the Coen brothers defended to the Washington Post their history of making movies about Jews and Minnesotans.
The Oscars So White controversy, #OscarsSoWhite, may reflect a real problem, the film writing-directing-producing duo agreed: Money drives commercial movies, people who invest money want more of what has worked in the past and it's daunting for minorities to break into that cycle.
But the brothers balked at the notion that film creators bear personal responsibility for promoting diversity, arguing you write what you know.
"Take any particular actor or writer or filmmaker, and you go, 'Your movies should be more this or more that or more the other thing,'" Joel Coen said. "The only sane response is that you can only write what you can write. You can't sit down and say, 'I'm going to write something that follows the dictates of what the culture thinks should be happening, in terms of cultural diversity in storytelling.' To be honest with you, that's completely lunatic."
Ethan Coen added: "We actually write movies in which the characters are Jews or Minnesotans."
True enough. They've done Jews ("Barton Fink"), wannabe Jews ("The Big Lebowski"), Minnesotans ("Fargo") and Minnesotan Jews ("A Serious Man").
Even sticking to what they know has gotten them into trouble.
"You say, 'Look at the work.' And then they go, 'Well, this character is Jewish and is a bad guy.' Somehow in their minds, that's implying that in our minds the Jewish characters stand in for all Jews," Joel Coen said. "Like I say, you can only write what you can write. If the question is whether or not there should be more people involved in the process, with more diverse backgrounds, so that what they write reflects a greater amount of diversity -- that the business itself should be more open to people of different backgrounds, so that those stories come in -- that's a legitimate thing to talk about. The other thing is crazy."
"Hail, Caesar!" focuses on another community the Coen brothers have come to know -- the Hollywood film industry. The film focuses on the making of a film, also called "Hail, Caesar!" starring Kirk Douglas-like actor Baird Whitlock (George Clooney). Unsurprisingly, there are some Jews on set.
In an exquisite Jew-out-of-water scene, studio executive Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) convenes a group of clergy to review the "Hail, Caesar!" script and make sure it doesn't offend any religious sensibilities. There's a Roman Catholic priest, a Protestant minister, a Greek Orthodox priest -- and a rabbi.
The rabbi struggles at length to politely explain that however Jesus is portrayed in the film, Jews won't be offended because to Jews, the Christian messiah is simply the "Nazarene." The acutely funny five minutes encapsulate what it is to be a Jew in the Diaspora.
The courage to tell the truth..
Do they walk into a bar?
Raising Arizona and Intolerable Cruelty are two very underrated Coen Brothers films. I like just about every one of their movies. Who would think that the people who made Fargo could ever make No Country For Old Men? Such diversity! True Grit is one of the few re-makes where I can say it is as good or perhaps better than the original. After saying all of that and then finding out they can be intelligent when speaking about a controversial subject, it makes me like them that much more...
Raising Arizona was my first exposure to the Cohen Brothers’ work. I think that I have seen every film they have made and their movies are great for quotable lines such as “we released ourselves upon our own recognizance.”
After litttle Shelton Lee took over, the movie should have been retitled Sominex..
I’m part Italian too. Most of my family from my Dad’s side hails from Naples. But don;t worry, we’re a friendly family. We’re so friendly we make you an offer you cant refuse if you cross us ;)
It is an amazing film.The pacing is as perfect as anything I’ve seen. In the hands of the Coens, the Midwestern dialect (and dialog) becomes almost lyrical. Great characters, great cinematography, just a wonderfully executed production. Don’tcha know that? And here ya are, and it’s a beautiful day.
Raising Arizona was the first Cohen Brothers film that I saw; I was in junior high and saw it in a theater. I loved that film and that started my enjoyment of Cohen Brothers films.
We felt this institution had nothing left to offer us.
Michael in Godfathers I had one of the most impressive character arcs ever put on film. The only one I can think of that comes close is Walt in Breaking Bad.
You listed movies that I can watch over, and over again (the same goes for Casino).
The exchange in that scene never fails to make me laugh.
I’ve yet to watch Breaking Bad. Everyone tells me I must.
I find III so hard to believe because i grew up with some of these guys and they are NEVER EVER remorseful for what they’ve done. Ever.
That’s almost laughable.
I guess the idea was that he never wanted to be in this business but had to enter it in order to save his father’s life.
GF III was an abomination.
I liked Casino but had trouble picturing De Niro as a Jewish Wiz Kid.
Maybe Dreyfus or Schroeder?
The thing is, he was actually well-cast for that role (hell he even looks like the guy he played!). Joe Pesci also looked so much like Tony “The Ant” Spilotro that is was kinda spooky.
I don’t know how old you are but I remember very well the Italian-American clubs and Italians in general getting upset at how Italians were portrayed. The Untouchables was particularly offensive to a lot of Italians. I also remember my father who was first generation and born in 1913 telling me how he was excluded from a lot of jobs. But he never complained. He just worked harder.
ping
It really is good.
I had a big problem with the whole cancer ridden chemistry teacher cooking meth deal, but I finally gave it a chance and wound up binge watching all of them in a month or two.
There are some disgusting situations. But there are a lot of hysterically funny dark moments too.
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